The present application relates to a battery module, an electric vehicle, an authentication apparatus, and a discharging control method for a battery module.
Increasing concern over environmental problems in recent years has led to much attention being focused on electric vehicles, starting with electric cars. As a power source, electric cars are equipped with a large-capacity battery constructed of lithium ion cells or the like. Note that the capacity of a battery provided in an electric car is around 20 kWh. When lithium ion cells are used, the cost per kWh is presently over 100,000 yen, which means that the battery provided in an electric vehicle has a high manufacturing cost. Accordingly, there is a high risk of the battery provided in an electric vehicle being stolen. For this reason, there is demand for anti-theft measures for a battery. As one example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2008-42985 discloses a method for preventing theft of a battery using a comparatively simple method.